Pirates of the Caribbean: The Heart of Davy Jones
by Rum Soaked Pirate
Summary: Picks up EXACTLY after Dead Man's Chest. This is my own version of the third movie. Full summary inside.
1. Barbossa is back

**Summary: Picks up EXACTLY after DMC. ****Elizabeth, Will, Barbossa, Tia Dalma and the rest of the crew sail towards an island which has what they need to make it to Davy Jones' Locker and save Jack. Afterwards, they have to fight Beckett and his men to take possession of the heart, but things seem to go all screwey ... This is my own version of At World's End.**

**Pairings: Mostly Jack/Elizabeth in later chapters, but there is also a little bit of Will/Elizabeth and Jack/OC.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, I just like to play around with the story a bit.**

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The crew couldn't take their eyes off Captain Barbossa. It was too peculiar to see him alive again. The last memories they had of him was lying underneath the treasure of Cortez, his eyes wide open and with an apple rolling away from his cold, dead hands. 

So how could he be alive again? They had so many questions to ask, but all they could do was gape at him – flabbergasted at what they were seeing. Elizabeth and Will looked from Tia Dalma to Barbossa and back; Ragetti and Pintel turned bright red at the sight of their former captain; Gibbs muttered, "Why, heavens!" slowly under his breath, while Cotton's parrot burst into a shouting of, "Don't eat me!"

Barbossa grinned. "What are ye looking at?" he addressed all of them as the steps he was walking on creaked under the weight of his boots. Tia flashed her teeth at Barbossa when he situated himself next to her, peering at the familiar faces in front of him.

Will was the first one to speak, and his words didn't contain much wisdom. "Captain Barbossa," he stated.

"Aye," Barbossa replied with another one of his grins. "Word has come to me that ye are in need of a Cap'n who knows tha seas well. Aye?"

"Aye," Tia Dalma said before any of the others could reply. She placed a hand on Barbossa's right shoulder, while her gaze turned to the others. "Ye all remember Captain Barbossa?"

Will glared at him. "How could we forget?" he asked rhetorically.

"I 'ad no doubt that ye wouldn't," Barbossa replied. "So ... 'ave you lost Captain Jack Sparrow, eh?" he asked him, though it was more towards everyone in general.

Will's hands clenched into a fist as his nostrils flared and he turned a bit red. He wasn't exactly sure why he felt so angry when he heard that name. Maybe it was because he couldn't believe that he let Jack get swallowed by the Kraken without trying to stop him. However, Will was starting to think that he felt angry at Jack and Elizabeth for betraying him. He knew that Elizabeth had no idea that Will had saw them kissing when they were still aboard the Black Pearl, but he wasn't sure he could keep it to himself any longer.

The rest of the crew looked down in sadness, all except Elizabeth, who seemed determined to keep her face clear of emotion. At this, Tia Dalma glanced quickly at Elizabeth, and the latter immediately looked down, trying to avoid eye contact. Elizabeth didn't know Tia much yet, but she felt insecure around her. She somehow felt uncomfortable around Tia.

"We haven't lost 'im," Gibbs broke the awkward silence, his tone a little too harsh than it ought to be. "We are sailing right back and save Jack from his grim fate."

"Ah, well really, it seems like a waste of time really. First, you let him die, and then you are going back again to fetch 'im," Barbossa said and laughed. "You pirates certainly don't know what ye're doin' without a good Cap'n."

"Jack was a good Cap'n!" Gibbs said as he slammed a fist on the table near him.

"This is no time to be fightin'," Tia Dalma interrupted harshly, and it was lucky for Gibbs that she did because Barbossa had already opened his mouth to retort something back. "We need to set sail to Tortuga to fetch some loyal crew," she added, and removed the hand she had placed on Barbossa's shoulder.

"We 'ave no ship," Pintel stated.

Tia grinned. "Indeed ye don't," she said as she turned to face him. "But I do. A very good one. One that will never match the Black Pearl, but good enough."

"Impossible," Will told her, narrowing his eyes at her. "There is no ship anywhere near the beach. And it's impossible to have a ship here; this is not the open ocean."

Tia sighed and turned her gaze to Will instead. "You need to learn to look further, William Turner," she addressed him with his full name. "Now all of ye, follow me." However, none of them moved except Barbossa, even though Tia walked over to the door of her shack and waited for them. "What are ye all waitin' for? There is no time to lose!" she told them.

"Why should we trust you?" Will blurted. "After all, we found _him_ in _your_ shack," he added and motioned to Barbossa.

Tia took a few steps towards Will and the others. "Have I ever lied to ye?" she directed her question towards Will.

"Fine, then tell me how Barbossa seems to be back to life," Will told her and crossed his arms, waiting for an explanation.

Tia looked at Barbossa then back at Will. "Some things ought to be left unknown. How Barbossa is alive is not your concern. What ye should be concerned about, what ye _all_ should be concerned about, is that dear Jack Sparrow needs your help. Now, are you willing to accept the help of a Cap'n who knows the seas well, or are you not?"

"That pirate tried to kill us all before!" Will shouted angrily. "I can't trust him, and neither should you!" He glanced at the crew around him, hoping that they would agree with him. Unfortunately for Will, nobody spoke. "What is the matter with you guys?"

Barbossa grinned. "We better get goin'," he whispered to Tia. With a nod, the latter went out of the door and waited for the others to do the same.

- - -

Lord Cutler Beckett stared out of his window; a sly smile was forming on his face. He turned away from watching the busy Port Royal citizens and looked at James Norrington. "Admiral Norrington, I am proud of your loyalty to the East India Trading Company," he told him. Beckett glanced sideways at the heart of Davy Jones, which was still miraculously beating inside the bag, delivered by Norrington himself.

"I am glad to have been in your service," Norrington replied with a smile and a nod.

Beckett smiled back. "Oh you can be assured that this will not be the last time that we make use of your services Norrington," he told him. His gaze turned back to the latter. "Now, I need you to tell me, where are Jack Sparrow and his crew?"

Norrington looked down at the floor for a few seconds then gazed back up at Beckett. "Last time I saw them, they were running away from Davy Jones' crew. I have no idea where they were heading to next," he told him.

Beckett stared at Norrington, probably trying to sense if he was lying or not. Apparently he didn't find any proof that he was lying, so he decided to walk over to the window again. "Well then, I am sure you would not mind setting sail with me and my crew and find them." He walked towards his desk and sat down, his eyes looking greedily at the bag containing the heart. "With this, we can do whatever we want."


	2. Tortuga and a New Arrival

Elizabeth stood on the deck of Poseidon, the ship in possession of Tia Dalma. She sighed as she stared out at the open ocean. She was almost scared of it more than Jack Sparrow ever was now. She feared that the Kraken might come after them next. She could have been wrong when she told Jack that it was after him, not them. Davy Jones was their enemy, and Elizabeth wouldn't be surprised if they got an attack from the Kraken.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She turned her head around to see who it was; Will Turner, the man she has been avoiding the whole trip. She gave him a small smile then stared back at the ocean.

"The sea is beautiful, isn't it?" Will asked her as he leaned against the deck next to her.

"So it seems," Elizabeth replied with a sigh.

"Elizabeth is something wrong?" Will asked her. He had been worried about her ever since they arrived at Tia Dalma's. She barely said a single word up till now. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

"No," she lied. She looked down and bit her lower lip.

"Oh, I am under the impression that you do have something to tell me," Will told her and gulped. He tried looking straight into her eyes, but she wouldn't let him. "Elizabeth ... I saw you and Jack," he muttered slowly.

Elizabeth gasped slightly and looked up at him, for the first time not hesitating to make eye contact. "Will," she breathed out.

"Look, I understand if you don't love me anymore -" Will started to say, but Elizabeth interrupted him.

"No Will it's not like that!" she told him as she took hold of his hands and gulped. She was not sure about how she felt anymore. True, she did trick Jack Sparrow so that she could tie him to the mast, but that doesn't change the fact that Elizabeth truly liked Jack, and that the compass couldn't stop pointing in his direction whenever it was in her hands.

"Oh no? Then what was it, huh?" Will asked her. His tone sounded harsh, but he wasn't really angry. Actually, he felt rather sorry for himself.

Elizabeth bit her lower lip and looked away. She couldn't tell Will the truth, or she would have to admit that she was the one to kill him. Right now, Elizabeth was having a tough time dealing with this situation. She couldn't yet accept the fact that she had become a murderer; a murderer who killed a good man. Even though Jack was a pirate, she believed that he was a good man. After all, he had come back to the Black Pearl to save them from the Kraken. Jack had changed Will and Elizabeth's destiny for his selfish needs, but that didn't stop Elizabeth from having feelings for him.

Will was just about to open his mouth to say something, when Gibbs shouted, "Land ahoy!" Both him and Elizabeth went over to them to make port at Tortuga.

Tortuga was a mess as always. Drunk pirates staggered everywhere to try and get some prostitute to sleep with them. It was the worst place that Elizabeth had ever been to, and if it wasn't for the fact that she didn't want to remain inside the ship all alone, she wouldn't have set foot on this island again. Gibbs had already made his way to the nearest tavern; a one which Elizabeth had dressed as a male pirate and fought with the citizens there, including Norrington.

She froze when she thought of Norrington. Last time she had seen him, he was carrying the chest in his arms to try and draw Davy Jones' crew to let the others escape. Elizabeth had no doubt that they had killed him, but the shock of the truth was coming to her just now.

Will glanced back at her when she just stared at nothing and wouldn't move. He frowned. "Elizabeth, are you OK?" he asked her.

Elizabeth snapped out of her trance and forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," she told him, and followed the rest of the crew inside the tavern.

There was a havoc as usual; but luckily enough there wasn't any major fights going on. Gibbs had already disappeared in hope of finding pirates to join their crew. He had spent a lot of time in Tortuga and knew a lot of pirates there. Barbossa could already be found with a mug of rum in his hands, while Tia Dalma was looking around her, or rather observing every man and woman that passed. Ragetti and Pintel had also ordered themselves a mug of rum each, and Will and Elizabeth didn't seem to have enough energy to do anything. They just stood in the doorway, and Elizabeth was getting nervous already.

A drunk pirate staggered towards Elizabeth and grinned. "Arr!" he exclaimed, showing all of his black teeth. Elizabeth was taken aback, especially by the alcoholic scent that escaped his mouth. Will grabbed her arm and carried her towards the others, who were sitting at a table. Only Gibbs was missing, who was still searching for men to join their crew.

Suddenly, Tia Dalma flashed a wide smile and stood up. A woman who was passing by stopped and looked at her. The others noticed happiness in her eyes. "Tia!" she exclaimed and hugged the latter.

"Why, Akila! I thought I'd never see ye again," Tia replied as she returned the hug.

"Aye, me too!" She looked at the other crew, as if noticing them for the first time. She then returned to look at Tia. "How be it that you left Pelegesto, hm?" she asked her.

"Well, we be in a need to find a _friend_," Tia said with a smile, putting emphasis on the word friend.

"Aye? And who be that friend?" Akila asked her in turn. The look in her eyes had turned mischievous now. She guessed that Tia and her friends were in for some kind of adventure.

"Captain Jack Sparrow," Tia hissed slowly and smirked. Akila opened her mouth slightly and gaped at Tia.

"Blimey, Captain Jack Sparrow, eh?" she repeated and grinned. Her gaze turned to the others, who were staring up at her, still wondering who she was. "You be in need of someone to join ye're crew?" she asked them.

"Aye," Barbossa said. "Welcome aboard your ship, Akila." He grinned.

Akila gasped and turned to look at Tia. Tia gulped and glared at Barbossa. "Tia, did ye give 'em me ship to sail on?" she asked her, even though she knew the answer.

"Well, ye left it in me hands, didn't ye?" Tia replied and shrugged. "We were in need of a ship, and yers is the only one I had."

"Bilge rat!" Akila cursed under her breath and went to fetch a mug of rum.


	3. He Has No Choice

The next morning, all the crew were on deck, including the new ones. Gibbs was running around, frantic at the idea that there was now three women on board. Akila rolled her eyes as he muttered things about bad luck and superstition then walked over to Will.

"You be William Turner, aye?" she asked him as she walked around him in circles, pretty much behaving like Tia Dalma did the first time she had seen him.

"Yes," he replied, turning stiff all of a sudden. Technically, he was still engaged to Elizabeth, and he didn't want her to think that he didn't want to marry her anymore.

"Such a handsome lad, arr," she told him and grinned.

"Get your hands off of my fiance!" Elizabeth said, as she suddenly walked over to them. She decided to act protective of him for once. After all, she still loved Will with all of her heart.

Akila glared at Elizabeth. She certainly didn't feel threatened by her, since she moved even closer to him. "Ye're fiance, aye?" she told her and laughed. "Well, ye should 'ave acted like one, hm?" She started to move away from Will and she hissed when she passed by Elizabeth.

Will walked over to Elizabeth. "It wasn't me -" he said but Elizabeth put a finger on his lips to hush him, and smiled.

"I know," she told him. She moved towards him slightly as if to kiss him, but she seemed to change her mind as she left suddenly.

Will looked at her, disappointed and confused. Elizabeth seemed so different all of a sudden. He had never seen her so bitter and sad before. He wondered why she was acting this way. It was probably because they had lost Jack, but they were going to bring him back now.

At the other side, Elizabeth was staring out at the open ocean that awaited them. "Oh Jack," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what?" a voice said behind Elizabeth. She jumped and gasped as she quickly turned around to see who it was. Akila beamed at her. Elizabeth glared at her and returned her gaze back to the sea. Akila crept towards her slowly. "Poor Jack, I wonder how he decided to stay on him Pearl. It is so not like Jack at all." She smiled slyly at Elizabeth.

"Jack was a good man," Elizabeth simply said, but she bit her lower lip nonetheless.

"Yes he is," Akila replied and grinned. "My sister and I knew 'im well."

Elizabeth looked at her. "You did, hm?" She smirked. "Who's your sister?"

Akila raised an eyebrow. "She always forgets to introduce me," she told Elizabeth and rolled her eyes. "Tia be my sister."

"Your sister?" Elizabeth asked her, and now that she thought about it, they looked a bit alike. They were both black and had long hair, and unfortunately they both had the same sort of teeth. "I didn't know."

"Well now ye know, m'dear," Akila replied. "As much as I'm enjoyin' meself talkin' to ye, ye're fiance must be feeling lonely, aye?" She grinned.

Elizabeth closed her eyes for a few seconds, and she gripped the rail under her fingernails. She didn't feel like talking to Will at the moment. She knew that he probably noticed that something was wrong; all the more reason to try and avoid him. All she cared about right now was if Jack was going to forgive her for what she did to him. Elizabeth didn't want to admit it to herself, but it was as if she was starting to get obsessed over Jack.

"Avoiding William, I see?" Akila asked her then sighed. "Ye're not ready to marry 'im, lass," she added.

Elizabeth glared deeply into her eyes. "Oh shut it, you don't know me, and neither do you know of what I feel about Will. I love him, alright?"

"Think twice, for ye don't know me either," Akila told her then left.

Elizabeth turned her gaze to the ocean and frowned. She wondered what Akila meant by her last sentence. Elizabeth sighed. _Gosh, I wish I had Jack's compass right now_, she thought.

- - -

The HMS Dauntless was already getting farther away from Port Royal. The crew sailed under the command of Cutler Beckett, who had also ordered Weatherby Swann to join him. Norrington walked over to Beckett's side with a hint of a smile across his face. He had long wished to get his life back, and that was it.

"Where is the Governor?" Beckett asked Norrington without even looking at him.

"Locked up in the brig, as you ordered sir," the other replied with a small nod.

"Very well indeed," Beckett muttered as he saw the last of Port Royal before it was completely out of sight. He then turned around and made his way towards the brig. As he descended the stairs, Swann peeped at him from between the bars of his cage.

"I assure you Beckett, I do not deserve this," Weatherby said.

However, Beckett didn't seem to acknowledge what Swann had told him. He simply looked at him coldly.

"Your daughter is becoming very hard to handle indeed," Beckett said after a while and smirked. Swann said nothing; he merely stared at him and waited for Beckett to continue. "She has engaged in piracy too many time for the past year. There is nothing we have left to do except that if she is ever captured, she will have to be hanged."

At this, Swann made a noise as if he was suppressing a groan. "My daughter has no choice but to do so," he said boldly.

"I am sorry to tell you that that is not necessarily true," Beckett said. "Elizabeth could have remained in Port Royal and helped me like you are doing."

Weatherby smirked. "And that is working perfectly well for me, I see," he said as he eyed the cage that he was in. Beckett smiled.

"It is necessary Governor," Beckett replied. "I will see you later."

He left Swann alone in the brig, and went up on deck again. Norrington was still a few paces away from where he had left him. Norrington gave him a small nod and smiled. However, Beckett didn't return it.

"Davy Jones will meet with us tonight," he stated. Norrington frowned at him.

"How can you be so sure that he will agree to come?" he asked Beckett.

"He has no choice," was Beckett's reply. Both he and Norrington smiled wickedly.

- - -

That night, Beckett ordered his navigator to stop the ship where it was. They were still in open ocean, with no land near them. Most of the crew found it strange and didn't understand what was happening, all except Norrington. He was the only one who knew of Beckett's plans and the importance of the heart.

"What do we do now?" a Royal Marine asked Beckett.

"We wait," he replied and ordered everyone to remain in silence. Everyone did so, and Beckett eagerly waited for Davy Jones' arrival.

In a matter of seconds, the Flying Dutchman appeared from underwater. A lot of Beckett's men gasped, and even Norrington was a bit taken aback by the sudden appearance of a ship. The men didn't know what was more alarming, the fact that the hideous creatures aboard the Dutchman had just appeared from underwater, or the fact that they had somehow made their way miraculously onto the Dauntless. Unlike when they had appeared on the Black Pearl, they weren't seeking to threaten the crew, but they simply stood there, with Davy Jones in front of them, gazing solemnly at Beckett.

"I am pleased to see that you have decided to collaborate with us," Beckett told Jones.

"I have no choice, and ye know it," Jones replied quietly, still staring at Beckett.

"Indeed I do," Beckett replied with a smile. He started to walk around Jones. "We have a need to find Captain Sparrow and his crew."

"Captain Sparrow is in the Land of the Dead," Davy Jones spat. Even though he now knew that it wasn't Jack who took his heart, he was still angry at him since he knew that it was him who had caused all of this trouble.

Norrington raised his eyebrows at what Jones said, and couldn't help but smirk. Finally, someone had managed to stop that scoundrel from causing any more damage.

"Is he now?" Beckett said and smiled. "Then where are his crew?" he asked, but Davy Jones seemed unable to speak. "Answer me!"

"They were last seen near the island of Pelegosto," Jones's first mate replied.

"And what were they doing there, I wonder?" Beckett asked.

"We have no idea," the first mate replied, but Beckett smirked.

"That was rhetorical," Beckett said then turned towards his men. "Prepare to go aboard the Flying Dutchman!" he ordered them then turned to look at Jones. "Tell your men to set sail towards the Land of the Dead."


	4. The Crypt

The following morning Elizabeth was lying down on the bed in her cabin. Will was already out on deck, and Elizabeth felt grateful that she had a few moments alone. She couldn't wait until she saw Jack again. She had no idea how they were going to save him, but the important thing was that there was a way to do so. Elizabeth blamed herself for letting Jack die and get swallowed by the Kraken. To herself, she was the coward and not Jack.

Unfortunately, she wasn't alone any longer, as Will opened the door and walked inside. He stood there near the doorway and looked at a very distraught Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth, is everything OK?" he asked her. She merely nodded at him and tried to force a smile. "I don't believe you."

"Then what was the point of you asking me?" Elizabeth asked with an annoyed tone in her voice. Will bit his lower lip and so did Elizabeth.

"Why are you acting so cold towards me?" Will asked her quietly. Elizabeth shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. "Tell me," he urged her.

"It's not you, it's me," Elizabeth replied as she got herself out of bed and walked towards Will. "Will -"

Will hushed her by kissing her softly on her lips. "Everything will be fine Elizabeth," he told her.

_No it won't be fine_, Elizabeth thought to herself, but she nodded to Will. When they save Jack, everything will be much worse, especially if Jack wouldn't be able to forgive her. Elizabeth would be too devastated if that turns out to be the case.

The door suddenly swung open and Will and Elizabeth turned to see who it was; Akila.

"Sorry ter interrupt, but we need ye on deck," she informed them.

As they made their way towards the rest of the crew, Elizabeth and Will did not even look or speak to each other. They were silent and both of them felt that their relationship was soon coming to an end.

"What is it?" Will asked Gibbs, who was nearest to him.

"Barbossa needs to talk about somethin'. But I have no idea what about," he replied and shrugged.

Barbossa walked around everyone to direct everyone's attention to him. He stopped doing so when he arrived near Tia Dalma and when he was pretty sure that everyone was ready to listen to him.

"Now listen mates, we are about to carry out a mission which is highly difficult," he said. "I happen to have an ally, which has what we need to make it to the Land of the Dead."

"Which is what, exactly?" Will asked him.

"Ye can call it 'The Crypt'," Barbossa said and grinned. The rest of the crew frowned, all except Tia and Akila.

"The Crypt?" Will repeated and raised his eyebrows.

"Aye. The only thing that allows living beings to cross over to the Dead without allowing them to die themselves," Barbossa continued. "Now what ye need to know, is that this island makes you live in your fears, literally." He smiled.

"How long do we have to sail till we get there?" Elizabeth asked.

Barbossa smirked and looked to his left. The others did so, and they could see an island, even though it was still far away to be seen clearly.

- - -

As the got nearer to the island, some of the crew prepared to leave the ship and wander around the island. Elizabeth stared out at it, then looked sideways at Will as he made his way next to her.

"The island looks uninhabited, doesn't it?" Elizabeth asked him.

"It certainly does look so, but you can never tell," Will said. He remembered his experience in the island of Pelegosto, which was slightly similar to this very island. Will remembered how he thought that nobody lived there, which turned out to be a big mistake.

Elizabeth nodded as she and Will followed Barbossa, Tia, Akila, Gibbs, Ragetti and Pintel into the longboat. They rowed towards the island and then stepped onto the rocky shore.

"Do people actually live 'ere?" Gibbs asked Barbossa as they continued to walk into what seemed to be a large forest.

"Aye, but not much," Barbossa replied. "Only a chosen few."

"Chosen for what?" Will asked him with a raised eyebrow, but before Barbossa had a chance to answer, Elizabeth started screaming as she looked up at a tree.

All of the crew stopped in their tracks and looked at Elizabeth, who had a hand clapped to her mouth.

"Elizabeth, what's wrong?" Will asked her as he grabbed her arm and looked up at what she was looking. It only seemed like a plain tree.

Elizabeth didn't say anything. She pointed up at the tree with a gasp.

"There be nothing there Elizabeth," Tia Dalma calmly said as she walked over to her. Elizabeth hesitated for a few seconds and couldn't take her eyes off the tree.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth shrieked. "There's -"

"I told ye in this island ye have to experience ye're greatest fears!" Barbossa interrupted her.

Pintel and Ragetti clung to each other as they looked frantically around them, afraid that their greatest fears were going to come alive to haunt them.

"I didn't take it literally," Elizabeth mumbled as she finally tore her eyes away from the illusion she had just seen, and they all continued to walk further into the forest. They were only stopped when Gibbs gasped and looked sideways.

"For the love of mother and child, what the bloody hell are ye doin' here?" Gibbs asked a tree, or rather, someone he was seeing.

"Umm – there is no one there Gibbs," Will whispered to him.

"Oh," Gibbs said as he glared at the person he was seeing then looked back at the crew.

"Try ter control ye're illusions lads," Barbossa said and rolled his eyes while he continued to lead the way.

"Where exactly are we goin'?" Pintel asked.

"Ye'll see," was Barbossa's reply as he smiled.

"The only thing there is here is a forest!" Elizabeth said.

"Well, we're not trying to find something other than a forest, are we?" Barbossa asked annoyed at all the questions they seemed to be asking him. Barbossa wasn't a patient one, and he disliked being asked questions which to him sounded pointless, even if they really weren't.

After what seemed like hours of endless walking through bushes, trees, and god knows what else, they arrived at a sort of small clearing, where only grass occupied the place. In the middle of this clearing was a hut, which was so small that no one in their right mind would want to live there. Then again, they doubted that the person they were about to meet was in their right mind.

Barbossa walked over to the hut with the rest of the crew walking behind him slowly. They weren't sure what to expect inside that little hut, but they all had learned to expect everything. Without even bothering to knock, Barbossa opened the door and walked inside. There was an old man, sitting at a table with a bottle of rum in his hand. He looked up as Barbossa walked in and flashed him a smile.

"Barbossa," he said, then turned to look as more people entered his hut.

"Scarface," Barbossa said with a smile. The others frowned at the name Barbossa called him. Indeed, this man's face was filled with scars which made him look twice uglier than he already was. He had a long white beard with ruffled white hair from under his pirate hat.

"What'd ye be needin'?" Scarface asked Barbossa.

"We need it," Barbossa told him sternly. Scarface tilted his head slightly to one side, not quite understanding what 'it' was. "The Crypt," Barbossa explained.

Scarface stared incredulously at Barbossa then eyed the others with him. He got up from his chair and walked over to Barbossa. It seemed like was finding it a bit difficult to walk, probably because of his age.

"Why do ye need it?" he asked.

"We need to go to the locker and fetch none other than Jack Sparrow," Barbossa informed him.

At the mention of Jack's name, Scarface couldn't help but laugh, and the others glared angrily at him, all except Tia Dalma. She seemed to show no emotion while Scarface was speaking. She just looked at him and waited for him to say something.

"I always knew that Jack would end up in there soon!" Scarface said as he walked back over to his chair and sat down. "Why would ye want to save 'im, eh?" he asked Barbossa. "He's no good in the Land of the Living."

"Now listen 'ere!" Gibbs started and pointed a threatening finger towards Scarface, but Tia Dalma calmly lowered Gibbs' arm and took a few steps forward.

"Why we want to save Jack is not really ye're concern," Tia Dalma said.

Scarface gazed at her. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again shortly afterwards when he realized that he didn't know what he ought to say. He knew Tia. He had heard stories as well as facts about her. Scarface never thought he was actually going to meet her face to face. He had heard that she rarely ever leaves Pelegosto, except in cases of emergency. He wondered how saving Jack could be a case of emergency.

"You see lass, it is me concern," Scarface told her with a smile, "because in fact ye need me help to get the Crypt. I can decide not to give it to ye if me wants." He looked at her triumphantly.

"Do ye really think it wise to not give me the Crypt?" Tia Dalma asked him.

Of course, Scarface knew that he ought not challenge Tia Dalma, but it was worth a try. Going to Jones' locker to bring back someone from the dead was a curious thing, and unfortunately Scarface was of a curious nature. He was still going to give them the Crypt even if they don't tell him their secret.

Without saying a word, Scarface walked over to a corner and started to search for something. Pintel and Ragetti tried to take a peak at what he was searching into, but they could see nothing. After a while, Scarface said, "Aha!" and walked over to Barbossa. He was holding something with his right hand and covering with his left. Barbossa's eyes shone when Scarface revealed the Crypt.

It was nothing more than a pointed sculpture with strange gold symbols and words on it. It was nothing special, but everyone in that room felt strangely drawn to it.

"Now listen to me," Scarface told Barbossa, and everyone gathered around and listened. "When one of ye touches the tip of it, it will open up, and ye will see nothing but white light which escapes from it. Ye won't actually see yerself travel towards the Land of the Dead, but ye will arrive there immediately. Savvy?"

Everyone nodded, except Will, who was still mesmerized at the sight of the Crypt. Scarface handed the Crypt gently to Barbossa and bit his lower lip before stepping a few steps backwards.

"Good luck," he told all of them.

Barbossa was just about to touch the tip of the Crypt, when Tia Dalma quickly grabbed hold of his arm and shook her head. She knew that it wasn't a good idea if Barbossa opened it. She knew exactly how the Crypt worked, and she doubted that even Scarface knew properly how it worked. Barbossa frowned at Tia Dalma, but she looked at Elizabeth.

"You," she said, and Elizabeth stiffened up. "You do it."

"Do what?" Elizabeth asked her.

"Touch the tip of the Crypt," Tia Dalma said as she took old of Elizabeth's arm and pulled her slowly towards her and the Crypt, which was still in Barbossa's hands. "Only _you_ can do it."

Too confused to say anything, Elizabeth decided it was best if she didn't argue with Tia Dalma. She bit her lip as her finger softly touched the Crypt's tip. It made a small noise and opened up slowly. Elizabeth retreated her finger away from it.

None of them could see what was inside it. The only thing they saw was a bright flash of white light coming out from it, and then there was nothing ...


	5. The Locker

Elizabeth's eyes fluttered open. She had no idea where she was or what had happened a few moments earlier.

"Will?" she asked as she rubbed her forehead. A headache was starting to form and that was the last thing she wanted. There was no response and Elizabeth quickly jumped to her feet and looked around her.

The only thing she could see was sand; lots and lots of sand. The wind blew in her face, causing sand particles to annoy her eyesight. Elizabeth couldn't understand what was happening. She looked downwards and to her shock there was a motionless Will, with Gibbs lying near him.

"Will!" she muttered while kneeling down next to him and tracing his cheeks softly. "Will, can you hear me?" she asked him a bit louder.

Once again, William didn't respond, but he moved slightly and Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him doing so. She looked over at Gibbs, who seemed to be coming to his senses.

"Will!" she urged once again. At this, Will's eyes opened slowly and smiled at Elizabeth. However, he frowned when he looked around him and saw nothing but an endless desert.

"What the bloody hell happened?" Gibbs asked them as he rubbed his forehead.

Both Will and Elizabeth glanced at him but didn't reply.

"Where are the others?" Will asked Elizabeth.

"I don't know," Elizabeth replied worriedly. She hadn't seen them since they opened the Crypt and she didn't even known how they ended up in this desert. She had quite expected the Land of the Dead or the Locker to be – well – different.

Gibbs jumped to his feet and Will did so soon afterwards.

"What is this place?" Will asked.

"We must be in the Locker," Gibbs replied as he took a look around him.

"We have to find the others," Will told then as he grabbed Elizabeth's arm and started to drag her towards his North and Gibbs followed them.

"And where do you propose we start?" Elizabeth asked him.

"We'll start searching and pray that we find them soon," Will replied. Elizabeth felt like arguing a bit more, but there was no changing Will's mind.

Will, Elizabeth and Gibbs found it hard to walk through the continuous slapping of the wind across their faces. It seemed that they had been walking for several minutes until they saw familiar figures not far away from them. They hurried over to them to realize they were Tia, Akila and Barbossa.

"Finally!" Gibbs shouted as they managed to arrive near them.

"Where be the rest?" Barbossa asked them.

"I don't know," Will replied. "We didn't see them."

Barbossa rolled his eyes. "Bloody scoundrels!" he spat. "They shouldn't be wandering around. We fine Jack and we go back!"

"Maybe they have gone to find jack," Elizabeth suggested but nobody seemed to acknowledge her.

Will frowned as he glanced down at Tia, who was sitting on the sand with her eyes closed. She had a relaxed expression on her face, but something told Will that she was concentrating.

"What is she doing?" Will asked Barbossa without taking his eyes off Tia.

Guessing that Will was referring to her, Tia opened her eyes and looked directly at Will.

"I'm tryin' to find Jack," she told him.

"The only way we are going to find Jack is if we search for him!" Will argued. He was starting to lose his patience in this lifeless desert.

Akila took a few steps forward and smiled. "We might not need ter look for 'im!" she stated.

Everyone turned to look at the direction Akila was smiling at.

"Bloody hell, it's Jack!" Gibbs exclaimed with a smile on his face.

There he was, approaching them with his slow and strange manner. He looked quite the same as before; no signs of weakness, tiredness or despair. The only difference was that he had managed to get his old beloved hat back.

"Jack!" Elizabeth exclaimed with a wide smile on her face. Will's head snapped towards her, and Elizabeth guessed that she shouldn't have acted so delighted.

Jack stopped abruptly at the sound of Elizabeth's excited voice and frowned at her. Elizabeth bit her lower lip. She was right; he wasn't going to forgive her. Soon enough, Jack's frown deepened when he caught sight of Barbossa.

"I didn't think I'd be seein' your mutinous butt anytime soon," Jack told him and gave him a nervous smile.

"Ye ought to thank me Jack," Barbossa told him and smirked. "If it wasn't for me, ye would be spendin' eternity here."

"And what's in it for you, eh?" Jack asked him suspiciously. He wasn't about to start trusting Barbossa. He knew him better than that.

Before Barbossa could answer, Akila stepped forward and beamed at Jack.

"Why Jack, it's so good to see ye again!" she said and fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"Ah so wonderful to see ye love!" Jack said happily. Elizabeth somewhat felt a pang of jealousy but tried to deny it to herself. "Glad ye've decided to join the rescue mission."

"Are we ready to go back then?" Tia Dalma asked them.

"Ah yes, quickly! I feel like daylight's been missing in me life for years already!" Jack said with a wave of his arm.

"Wait, where's the others?" Will asked as he looked around him.

"Aye! Pintel and Ragetti are missing," Gibbs stated.

"Well, where have they gone?" Jack asked as he looked frantically at all of them.

"If we knew then we'd be already searchin' for 'em," Barbossa said and rolled his eyes. Jack glared at him.

"They can't wander too much, or the deadly crabs would go after them," Jack said and sighed, giving the impression that he had already encountered them since he had been there.

"Deadly crabs?" Elizabeth asked worriedly.

"Aye. They're not really 'deadly', considering ye have to be dead to be 'ere, but they are really annoying," Jack replied and shuddered.

Suddenly, they all heard a shout coming from afar, and they stopped talking to see where it was coming from. In a matter of seconds, another shout was heard and this time they realized it was Pintel's voice who was shouting. A frightened Pintel was running towards them with Ragetti running behind him and waving his hands up into the air as if he was in pain. Jack and the others raised their eyebrows at them, but as Pintel and Ragetti got nearer, they realized why they were screaming their lungs out.

It wasn't just Pintel and Ragetti who had been found, but also about ten large crabs, one of them stuck onto Ragetti's but. Its claws were clearly causing the poor Ragetti to scream like never before.

"Time to go!" Will said nervously.

When Pintel and Ragetti were safely near them, Elizabeth quickly touched the Crypt's tip and white light surrounded them once again.


	6. Forgiveness?

**I just want to say thanks to everyone who reviewed the chapters so far. I'm glad you guys like it!**

* * *

The crab was still stuck to Ragetti's butt, but he appeared to be motionless and dead. The others rubbed their head as they tried to stand up. They realized that they had returned back to Scarface's hut. He was sitting on his chair while staring at them and waited for them to get back to their senses. 

Elizabeth looked around her until her eyes fell on Jack. He was lying there and to her shock he looked dead. She knelt down next to him worriedly. "Jack?"

Tia Dalma walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He's dead," she told him.

"What? Dead?" Elizabeth asked her shocked. "What do you mean, dead?"

"He only appeared to be alive in the Locker because he was actually dead," Tia said, but Elizabeth raised her eyebrows in confusion. "The only way Jack could be properly alive again is if I bring 'im back to life meself," she said.

"Then come on, do it!" Elizabeth urged her.

Tia Dalma simply stood there and thought about it. After a while, she looked sideways at Barbossa. "Take 'em back to the ship. Jack and I will come soon," she told him. She wasn't about to perform her magic in a room full of people.

At first, nobody moved. They just looked from Barbossa to Tia and wondered why she couldn't just bring Jack back to life in front of them. All of them were quite curious to figure out what Tia's secrets were. She was too mysterious for everyone's liking.

Barbossa nodded at Tia and motioned for everyone to follow him. Elizabeth looked down at Jack and bit her lower lip before deciding to leave him for now and go after the crew. However, Akila remained inside together with dead Jack, Tia, Scarface, and the dead crab which had been stuck on Ragetti a few moments ago.

"Why do we have to leave while she brings Jack back to life?" Elizabeth thought out loud.

"Do ye really think she is going ter let ye in her secret?" Barbossa asked her and rolled his eyes. Elizabeth shut her mouth and continued walking alongside Will. He had been awfully silent ever since they arrived back.

Ragetti had fell behind since he couldn't walk properly. He kept rubbing his butt repeatedly while cursing under his breath.

"Oh come on, get a move on!" Pintel shouted at him.

"I can't! That crab got me fer good!" Ragetti moaned.

Barbossa rolled his eyes and ignored the two's ramblings. They had always been the annoying and silly members in his crew. To think that they were going to be stuck with him again was like a nightmare to Barbossa.

Elizabeth glanced at Will and bit her lower lip. He was staring straight ahead of him as if he was hypnotized my something and completely unaware what was happening around him. Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something, but only a sigh escaped her lips. This seemed to catch Will's attention, as he turned to look at her. His eyes were emotionless and the cold look he gave her made her shiver.

"Something wrong?" he asked Elizabeth. She simply shook her head and looked straight ahead of her. She made it a point to avoid looking in Will's eyes in the future. It hurt her how empty they were. She somehow thought it was her fault, and was quite certain about it.

Everything was going well between Will and Elizabeth, until she spoiled everything by kissing Jack. Now, Will was under the impression that she was in love with Jack, and Elizabeth knew that it wasn't the case. There was no way that she was in love with a _pirate_, or was she?

As they managed to arrive at the ship, Jack opened his eyes back in Scarface's hut to find Tia Dalma kneeling in front of him. Jack closed his eyes once again and rubbed his head. Akila smiled and knelt next to Tia.

"Jack! Glad ye're back," she told him.

Jack opened his eyes once again and smiled. "Hey love," he said, still rubbing his head. "What happened?"

"Ye were dead and I brought ye back," Tia said and stood up.

"Oh, thank you then," Jack said. He tried to at least sit down, but he didn't have enough energy to do so. His body was still weak and tired.

Akila noticed that, and she extended a hand to help him get up. Jack took hold of it and heaved himself up on his feet. He brushed dirt off of him when he caught sight of Scarface. He took a few steps backwards and frowned.

"What are ye doin' here?" Jack snapped at him.

"This is me hut ye insolent scallywag," Scarface barked angrily.

Jack glared at him and his eyes rested on the Crypt in Scarface's hands. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him. "Ah, so it's _you_ who's in possession of that – that – _thing_," he said with a wave of his hand.

"Aye, and ye better be thankful fer it," Scarface replied.

"Right ... Thankful," Jack muttered. He wasn't really paying attention to what Scarface was saying. The only thing that mattered to him was how come the Crypt was in his hands.

"We better get goin'," Tia snapped at Jack, which caused him to take his eyes off of Scarface.

"Oh right," Jack said with a small smile then sent a glare at Scarface. "I hope I won't be seein' ye again," he told him.

"Right back at ye," Scarface snarled, before Akila grabbed Jack's arm and carried him out of the hut.

- - -

Back aboard Poseidon, everyone was scurrying around doing their jobs. They couldn't wait to get away from this island. Nearly all of them had witnessed their greatest fears take place in front of them, and it was the worst experience they had ever encountered.

Elizabeth was walking around, searching for Jack. She hadn't talked to him properly yet, and now that Will wasn't around, she could talk to him freely.

"Looking for someone?" a voice said behind Elizabeth, making her jump slightly. She smirked as she realized who it was and turned around to face him.

"Actually I was looking for you, Jack," Elizabeth said with a smile. She was disappointed to see that he did not return the smile.

"Oh, come to tie me up to the mast again?" Jack asked her. Elizabeth felt Jack's sharp voice killing her on the inside. She looked down and bit her lower lip. How could she say she was sorry after what she had done?

"Jack – I -" she started as she looked back up at him. Her eyes showed guilt, and even though Jack could see that, he still felt quite angry with her. "I was so wrong! I'm sorry Jack. I'm sorry for thinking that you were the coward, when in reality, I was," she told him as tears swelled up in her eyes.

Jack looked away from her and smirked. "It's a little too late for that," he told her.

"No it isn't," Elizabeth said and sighed. "We've come back to save you now, haven't we?"

"Oh and ye think that that's just going to make everything go away, eh?" Jack snapped at her with a wave of his hand.

Then there was silence between them. Even though there was commotion and noise all around them, both Jack and Elizabeth couldn't hear anything except their own thoughts. They didn't even realize that Will had made his way up on deck and was observing them from afar.

"How is your beloved fiance?" Jack asked Elizabeth after a while. Her head snapped up to look at Jack's twinkling eyes. Jack smirked when he saw the expression on her face. "Ah I get it, he doesn't know ye left me to die," he said and nodded. "Ye truly are a pirate, love."

"I am far from a pirate!" Elizabeth said angrily.

"Ha!" Jack shouted and Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "Well I'm of the idea that you have acted as a pirate more than anyone else on this ship," he said triumphantly then twitched his nose as he caught sight of Barbossa. "Well, you're the second on the list actually," he said after a while.

"Jack please -" Elizabeth whispered as she took a few steps towards him. "Please forgive me."

Jack opened his mouth to say something when Gibbs made his way towards them. Jack narrowed his eyes at him. Gibbs looked a bit moody for some reason.

"Jack, what happened to the Pearl?" Gibbs asked him, and Jack looked away.

He didn't want to hear anything about the Pearl. It was the only thing he was living for, and now that it was gone ... Jack didn't want to think about such unhappy thoughts for now. He was pretty sure that he would get the Pearl back someday, somehow. He just didn't want to think about it right at that very moment.

"It's gone mate," Jack said softly. "Gone. Vanished. Deceased. Decomposed."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at Jack's attempt to sound somewhat poetic in his description of the Pearl. She felt slightly sorry for him. She knew that the Pearl was terribly important for him, even though she couldn't understand how a person's life could rotate around a ship.

"Isn't there a way we could get it back?" Gibbs asked him.

"I'm afraid not," Jack said and sighed. "It's well crushed in Davy Jones' locker, and I'm afraid that seeing the remains of such a ship will haunt me throughout my life."

Now the description just sounded pathetic. Elizabeth crossed her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes once again. Jack saw her do so, and he glared at her.

"Oh ye shouldn't really be rollin' your eyes love," Jack told her. "If ye plan to save your precious self from falling under the hands – I mean claws – of Jones, then we really need a ship like the Black Pearl."

"As if this ship is bad!" Elizabeth told him.

"Oh no, this ship is wonderful, along with its captain I believe," Jack said with a smirk as he glanced over at Akila. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes as she looked from Jack to Akila, trying to ignore the pang of jealousy she felt once again. Jack looked back at Elizabeth. "But it cannot match the Pearl."

"Aye, it cannot," Gibbs agreed before he left their side in a solemn manner.

"You never really answered my plead Jack," Elizabeth whispered to Jack when Gibbs was gone.

"And what was that, remind me," Jack said, although he knew very well what Elizabeth was talking about.

"Forgive me?" Elizabeth pleaded and bit her lower lip, looking hopefully at Jack. She couldn't stand Jack being angry with her.

"Well love -" Jack started to say but was interrupted once again by a lot of sudden shouting.

Jack turned around and his eyes widened. "Oh bugger," he muttered, and Elizabeth gasped. There, on their very own ship, were some of the Royal Navy, all pointing their weapons towards every single crew member there was. Someone had even got hold of Elizabeth and Jack before they both even realized what was happening.

They heard a big splash, and to everyone's surprise the Flying Dutchman appeared from under the water. It would have been more of a shock to most of them if this same little episode had not happened before. However, none of them were expecting to see the Dutchman so soon again.

It was even more shocking to see Beckett standing near Jones, with Norrington not too far away from them.


	7. Prisoners on their own ship

Elizabeth was partly relieved to see that James was still alive, but she was shocked that he had betrayed them.

Just then it dawned to Jack; the reason why he didn't find the heart in his jar of dirt. Norrington had took it and delivered it to Beckett. Jack gritted his teeth together as he tried to break free, without success, from the tight grip that one of Beckett's men was holding him.

It all happened so fast. In a matter of seconds, Davy Jones' crew had teleported themselves onto Poseidon and were snarling at the crew, particularly at Jack and Will, whom they had both met before. Jones walked around them and stopped near Jack. He narrowed his eyes at him.

"Jack Sparrow," he spat. "It's funny how we keep coming face to face for the past couple of days, eh?" He smirked.

"Ah yes, first we spend so many years without the pleasurable company of one another, now we're seeing so much of each other it's getting annoying," Jack replied and smiled sarcastically. Jones glared at him.

"Well I'm sorry Jack, but ye are going back to the locker, with all of your beloved crew. I doubt that ye would have anyone to save ye then," Jones snarled and his crew laughed. He then turned suddenly serious. "But first, Beckett wants to have a word with ye."

- - -

"I can't believe that _scoundrel_ let the other _scoundrels_ take that bloody heart," Barbossa said through gritted teeth. "Now we happen to locked away inside our own ship's brig."

"It wasn't Jack's fault!" Elizabeth said. Will glared at her but didn't say anything.

"Whoever said I was talking about Jack?" Barbossa asked her.

"It's _obvious_," Elizabeth said and rolled her eyes. Nobody said anything then. Elizabeth was worried. She hoped that Beckett wasn't going to do anything bad to him.

"I could have been talking about the Commodore," Barbossa said after a while and everyone turned to look at him.

Ragetti giggled. "_Former_ Commodore," he said.

"You wouldn't have called Norrington a _scoundrel_," Elizabeth argued with Barbossa.

"Aye, I would," Barbossa replied.

"No you -" Elizabeth started to say but was interrupted by Will.

"Can you two please shut it?" Will asked them angrily.

Everyone turned to look at an angry and miserable Will, and everyone saw fit that they shouldn't say another word.

Up in the Captain's quarters, Jack was sitting on a chair with two of Beckett's men next to him. Beckett was walking around the room without saying any word. The only thing that could be heard was Beckett's footsteps, and Jack didn't like that sort of annoying silence, and it happened to be himself who broke it.

"Well since – apparently – you have nothing to say, it's best if I -" Jack said and was about to stand up, when one of the men next to him pushed him back down. "- get going," Jack finished with a sigh.

Beckett looked sideways at Jack and smirked. "Mister Sparrow, I am awfully glad that you aren't dead anymore," he told him.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "You are?" he asked him, confused. He thought that Beckett would be pleased to hear that Jack was dead.

"Yes I am," Beckett said, and Jack continued to raise his eyebrows. "I want you to work for me Sparrow."

Jack snorted. He knew that something like this was coming sometime soon. "What makes you so certain that I am going to accept, eh?" Jack asked him.

"Oh because you have to," Beckett told him. Jack snorted once again and glanced down at the floor. "... If you want the Pearl back," Beckett finished and smiled.

Jack looked at him sharply and the other simply smirked. Beckett knew that Jack was going to consider his offer. Jack would do _anything _to get the Pearl back. Jack thought it was slightly fishy that Beckett was willing to fetch the Pearl back from the depths for him, but Jack would do anything for that beloved ship, and Jack knew that Beckett knew that.

"So what is it going to be, Sparrow?" Beckett asked him.

"I won't do it," Jack firmly said. Beckett narrowed his eyes at him, and remained silent for a moment. Funny, _normal_ men would be honoured to work for Beckett, and Jack won't even do it to get his ship back; a ship which he adored so much.

"You are one hard man to understand," Beckett commented after a while, then ordered his men to lock Jack in the brig with the others.

Elizabeth and the rest of the crew placed their gaze on the door as it opened and two Royal Marines holding Jack came inside. Without any word, they left Jack there and went out. They all looked at Jack as if expecting him to say something.

"Well mates, no worries. We will manage to get out of here ... somehow," Jack said and gulped.

"And how do ye propose we do that?" Barbossa asked him.

"I don't know. Still working on that part," Jack said and glared at him. "Well you're the supposed Captain who came on the rescue journey. Do you have any plans?"

"No Jack, this was all your doing, you idiot," Barbossa growled.

"I am -" Jack started but once again, Will interrupted them.

"Now don't _you_ two start!" Will shouted.

Jack looked sideways at Will and twitched his nose. "What's with the temper lad?" he asked him.

"The whelp has been biting everyone's heads off," Barbossa muttered and Will gave him an ugly look. "Well it's true!"

"And why might that be?" Jack asked him.

Will took a few steps towards Jack and curled his hands into a fist. "Oh I think you know exactly why that might be," Will told him. Jack raised his eyebrows and took a step backward.

"Easy lad, I have no idea what you're talking about," Jack said and put his hands in front of him as if to shield himself from Will's fists, which looked more than ready to punch Jack across the face.

"You're unbelievable Jack," Will said and raised his fist in the air. Everyone was confused. They had no idea what was happening, all except Elizabeth of course. Jack's eyes widened then closed suddenly and waited for Will's punch. However, that never came.

Jack opened his eyes again to see that Elizabeth had grabbed Will's arm and lowered it.

"Will, stop it!" Elizabeth shouted.

Will looked at her calmly and lowered his arm completely. He turned back to Jack and glared at him. "We're not finished," he told him through gritted teeth and walked away from him.

Jack stared back at Will. As far as he was concerned, Jack here was the victim. First, Elizabeth practically killed him, then he ends up a prisoner, and then Will threatens him. Life was just not going well for Jack.

"You really have all this twisted, William," Jack said.

Elizabeth widened her eyes at Jack and gave him a look that pleaded to not go through all of that right at that very moment. She wasn't planning to hide everything from Will, but she didn't think that was the opportune moment to tell him, especially with all of the crew listening to the conversation.

Will looked up at Jack and walked towards him once again. "What do you mean?" Will asked him.

Jack opened his mouth to talk, but when he caught Elizabeth's expression on her face, he closed his mouth and bit his lower lip.

"Oh it's _nothing_ really -" Jack started to say, but Will placed his fingers around his neck and pushed him against the wall.

"I said, what do you mean?" Will asked him angrily.

The crew gasped, and Akila walked over to Will and pushed him away from Jack.

"Are ye mad?" she asked Will as she stared at him incredulously. "Did ye come and save him to kill him?"

"I might as well have," Will said.

"Ah then you might as well have left me dead. At least I wasn't being attacked by a maniac there," Jack retorted.

"Stop it, both of ye!" Tia Dalma interrupted. "We don't need this righ' now."

"Aye she's right," Gibbs said nodding. "We just need to calm down and stop fightin' with each other." He looked from Will to Jack and back, not really knowing what was happening between them.

Will and Jack moved to the other side of each other, and finally everyone fell silent. Barbossa walked over to Jack and rested his arm on his shoulder.

"Jack," he said and sighed. "Why does it _always_ have to be you?" he asked and shook his head. Jack gave him an ugly look but didn't say anything.

- - -

It was late at night, and everyone seemed to be asleep, except Elizabeth. She couldn't understand how any of them could manage to take any sleep after what had happened that day. Or maybe it was that Elizabeth had the most worries in her mind, with all that was happening between Will and Jack. She buried her face in her hands and sighed. This was all her fault. Will wasn't going to rest until he gets Jack for what he had done, and what wrecked Elizabeth most was that she knew it wasn't Jack's fault. It was herself; she had kissed him and she had killed him.

Suddenly, someone opened the door harshly and closed it behind him. Elizabeth stood up and grabbed the bars of her cage, trying to take a look at who had entered. The only thing she could see was the shadow of a figure, but it was dark to see who it was.

"Who's there?" Elizabeth asked worriedly. If it were one of Beckett's men, then they wouldn't have stayed near the door without moving.

"Elizabeth, there is no time to lose," a familiar voice whispered, and the figure walked towards her.

It was none other than James Norrington.


	8. Mermaids

Elizabeth stared at Norrington, not quite believing that it was truly him. He sounded frantic and kept looking back over his shoulder as if expecting someone to storm inside.

"James?" Elizabeth asked as if to double check if it was truly him. "What's happening?"

"There is no time to lose," he repeated as he quickly opened up the cell that they were in. Most of the crew were starting to wake up by now and were looking around them with a confused expression on their faces.

"No matter what ye say, it's not going to happen!" Jack mumbled, half awake and half asleep.

Norrington looked at Jack and raised his eyebrow. If he wasn't in a hurry, he would have mocked Jack in every way that he could. But today he simply couldn't.

"Ye slimy git!" Jack said and turned the other way round and started to snore.

"Keep your voice down!" Norrington whispered as Akila attempted to wake Jack up.

"Huh?" he muttered confused.

"Wake up, ye idiot!" Barbossa growled then looked at Norrington. "What are ye doin'?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm helping you escape," Norrington replied and looked back over his shoulder once again. He turned back to Elizabeth. "Come on now, there is nobody up on deck. You can easily get away into the longboat," he told her.

"How do we know this isn't a trick?" Will asked him and narrowed his eyes.

"I suppose you have to trust me," Norrington replied.

"I don't think we're all gonna fit into one longboat," Pintel argued as he looked around at all of the crew. Indeed, there seemed to be way too many to fit into a boat.

Norrington rolled his eyes. "Then it will be two," he whispered and motioned for them to follow him.

When he made sure that there was nobody on deck, Norrington let the others come out and prepared the longboats for them to get into.

"James," Elizabeth whispered as she walked next to him.

"There's no time Elizabeth, you must hurry," Norrington replied.

The others had already made their way into the longboat and waited for Elizabeth to come down.

"Come on!" Gibbs urged her.

"Just a second," Elizabeth whispered then looked back at Norrington. "Come with us," she whispered. "You don't have to stay here."

Norrington looked down, as if considering doing so. "I can't," he answered and looked wearily at her. "I'm sorry. Now go."

Elizabeth sighed and smiled at him. "Thank you," she whispered before getting into the longboat next to Will. She looked up at the ship and at Norrington as they rowed away from the ship as fast as they could, before anyone else realized that they were trying to escape.

It was never Norrington's intention to hurt them. He had been blinded by his need to get his life back, that he didn't even realize that he got Elizabeth and the others in trouble. That was why he had to right a wrong by helping them to escape.

"My ship," Akila mumbled and broke the silence. Everyone turned to look at the broken-hearted Akila, who couldn't take her eyes off of Poseidon. "Those thieves! I will not rest until I get my ship back."

"I think that's the least of our concerns right now," Gibbs said, who was on the other longboat.

"He's right," Marty agreed. "We have to head for land."

"Fortunately enough, Norrington decided to drop us off not far away from an island," Barbossa informed them. He grinned and looked opposite him. In fact, there was an island there, even if it was a bit too far away from them.

Jack stared at the island and frowned. "Oh bugger," he muttered.

Elizabeth looked at him and raised her eyebrows. Something told her that they were in for something not quite good. "What is it?" she asked him.

"Tis the island of the mermaids," Barbossa spoke instead of Jack. The crew raised their eyebrows.

"Mermaids?" Elizabeth repeated.

"Aye, not quite the nice creatures ye would think they are though," Barbossa replied. "If ye bother them, ye're toast."

"That's not good!" Ragetti muttered and decreased the pace with which he was rowing.

"I thought mermaids were good creatures," Pintel said.

"They were, until Davy Jones ruled over them," Jack said. "Then they didn't quite remain good and innocent."

"They're tricksters, they are," Barbossa continued. "They'll try to make you fall for them."

Nobody said anything else, but they kept rowing towards the island until Ragetti stopped and sighed. "I don't want to go there," he whined.

"We have to. Do ye intend to keep rowing without stop until we arrive at a proper island?" Tia Dalma said. "Ye have no need to be afraid of mermaids."

"What they said was totally opposite of what _you_ said!" Ragetti retorted.

"They are not going to hurt ye," Tia said calmly.

"I hope so," Ragetti mumbled.  
They were getting really close to the island now, and it could be seen clearly. If it didn't happen to be habited by mermaids, and if they didn't happen to go there in the middle of the night, the place would have appeared to be very beautiful. Even from where they were situated, they could see that there wasn't a lot of large trees like the island they had been to before, but there was a river and lakes. Well, they weren't expecting anything else really. Mermaids lived in the water, and an island full of water they were going to get.

Will glimpsed something passing near their boat, and he looked at it sharply. However, it seemed to have disappeared. He blinked but decided to let it go.

Then he heard a soft laugh. Apparently all of them had heard it, since they all stood up straighter and looked around them. Ragetti stopped rowing and gulped.

"What was that?" Pintel asked frantically. Nobody said anything to him. Probably because most of them didn't know the answer, and those who knew were too busy sorting out their own thoughts.

Then they heard it again; a sort of suppressed giggle coming from a woman. They heard a swish coming from underneath their boats, and some of them gasped. Ragetti started rowing once again, and this time he made sure that he was rowing much faster than before. He just wanted to get to land as fast as possible.

They were pretty sure that it was a mermaid. There was no need asking for confirmation now. They kept hearing giggles every now and then, and it was getting so annoying.

They were getting nearer to the island now, and everyone rowed as fast as they could to get there before a mermaid happens to flop itself on one of the boats.

As they arrived near the island, they all stepped on the rocky beach and dragged their boats with them. They had to take care of the boats very well, since it was the only means of transport they had. How else were they planning to get away from the island the following morning?

They looked around and them and sighed. They fell silent and most of them sat down on the rocks.

"So – um – this is where we are going to stay?" Elizabeth broke the silence.

"I guess so," Jack said as he walked over to two rock and lay down between them. He looked like he was the only one who comfortable in his position. Jack looked sideways at Akila, who was sitting solemnly on a rock and staring out at the open sea.

"What's wrong love?" Jack asked her.

"Me ship," she whimpered. "I can't believe I lost Poseidon."

Jack didn't say anything. He too looked out at the open sea and frowned.

"Don't ye worry, Akila," Tia Dalma told her as she placed herself down next to her. "Ye get some sleep and we will find away to get the ship back next morning."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Will snapped at her. "The East India Company controls that ship. We stand no chance against them."

Tia looked at Will and smirked. "Get some sleep William," she simply told him. Will frowned, slightly tired of Tia's lack of explanation. However, he did not say anything else, but he and the rest of the crew wondered how they were going to be able to get some sleep that night.

- - -

Even though they all were pretty much certain that they will not be able to rest, all of them fell fast asleep on the rocks eventually. They had had a very tiresome day and the rocks were as good as any other pillow for them.

It was only Elizabeth who had woken up in the middle of the night. She had had the most horrible dream, where Beckett had captured them once again. Her father was on Beckett's side, and so was Norrington. She and the crew were walking up to the gallows when Elizabeth woke up suddenly and sat up straight.

She looked around her but everyone was asleep. Only Ragetti's snores could be heard, and they weren't pleasant at all. Without any sound, Elizabeth stood up and walked further towards the shore. She wasn't really afraid of mermaids. After all, they only tried to trick men. They weren't going to hurt Elizabeth, or at least she hoped so. She made sure that she doesn't go too far away from where the others were sleeping though.

Elizabeth bit her lower lip while thinking about everything that was going on. So many things had happened all at once and Elizabeth didn't know when they were going to get rid of everything so that they could carry on with their lives. She remembered how in love she was with Will just a few days ago, and how now they barely even spoke. She couldn't believe that they were going to get married, before Beckett interfered.

Suddenly, Elizabeth heard a grunt coming from behind her, and someone moved. She turned her head around to see that it was Jack. Apparently, he wasn't feeling comfortable in his position anymore, and was squirming between the two rocks.

Elizabeth ignored Jack and stared out at the sea once again. She wasn't exactly sure of her feelings towards Jack, but she couldn't keep denying to herself that there wasn't _something_. It was something that she had never expected, and she couldn't yet accept the emotions she was feeling for Jack.

As much as she wanted to carry on with her thoughts, she couldn't ignore the repeated grunting and movements coming from Jack. Suddenly, he stood up and gasped.

"Where's the rum?" he mumbled.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and shook her head, but a smile was forming on her face. She hushed him, and he stared at her.

"Ye burned it, didn't ye?" he asked her.

"There's no rum here Jack," Elizabeth whispered to him as he stood up and was shakily making his way towards her. They both tried not to wake up the others, especially Will. He would certainly think that something is going on between them. "If there were rum, it'd be already gone."

"Ah I knew you would burn it," Jack said triumphantly.

"Keep your voice down," Elizabeth whispered. Jack had arrived near her by now and he sat down on a rock next to her. "The only reason why the rum would be gone is because I would have had it already."

Jack raised his eyebrows. The only times when Elizabeth seemed to like rum was when something was disturbing her. He looked out at the sea then back at Elizabeth.

"Why so?" he asked her.

Elizabeth sighed. "Oh it's just everything," she said. "Lately my life has turned upside down, and it's mostly because of you."

"Ah there we go again, turnin' yourself into a victim," Jack told her and smirked.

Elizabeth bit her lower lip and looked at Jack. "No Jack, the thing is that I like it," she said.

Jack glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, and tried to keep his face emotionless.

"You see, even though I wanted to marry Will, I feel rather ... glad ... that I haven't," Elizabeth explained. "I don't know exactly why, but I feel _free_."

"Ah well, marriage does involve certain restrictions I suppose," Jack said, unable to find an interesting thing to say.

"I have never felt this way before," Elizabeth said. "Ever since I was a young child, I have been told stories about pirates, about how mischievous and evil they are. But I still was always interested in them. And now, I happen to be standing here, living the life of a pirate. It's so ironical."

"And," Jack started to say but stopped for a few seconds. "You like it?"

Elizabeth smiled and looked down. "Yes I do," she said.

Jack smiled triumphantly. "Ah so you do admit that ye are in fact a pirate!" Jack said.

"Keep your voice down," Elizabeth hushed through gritted teeth.

At that exact moment, Will moved in his sleep and groaned. Elizabeth turned around and held her breath for a few seconds. It seemed that Will hadn't woken up. She breathed a sigh of relief then looked back at Jack.

"I better go get some more sleep," she told him. "It's going to be a busy day tomorrow."


End file.
